March 14, 2016

Patrick Hofer successful in Bütschwil

Patrick Hofer successful in Bütschwil

The International Bütschwil GP was recently held in Switzerland with over 100 drivers from Austria, Germany, Italy, UK and Swiss in attendance. Team Associated driver and multi-time Swiss national champion, Patrick Hofer would dominate the event right from the start of the practice sessions on. Patrick would grab the pole position for the main final after the semis and he also brought home the win to round out a perfect weekend. Behind him, fellow Team Associated driver Ronny Lüber would grab the runner-up spot from Micha Widmeier (SOAR) in third place.

Source: Pro-Line [prolineracing.com]


March 14, 2016

Nacho Lopez wins at Spanish 1/8th on-road opener

Nacho Lopez wins at Spanish 1/8th on-road opener

The opening round of the Spanish 1/8th On-road Championships was held at the Automodelismo Ronda club this past weekend. Alberto Fernandez would lead the proceedings during practice but it was Nacho Lopez who came out fastest after the qualifiers, winning three of the five rounds. Ruben Olivares with two round TQs placed himself second after the qualifiers with Victor Gonzalez and Jacobo Guerrero coming in third and fourth. The semifinals had Nacho taking the pole position for the finals from Victor but problems around the 18 minute mark meant a DNF for Gonzalez, denying him a battle for the win and allowing Nacho Lopez to cruise to the victory at round one of the championship, some 2 laps ahead of Ruben Olivares with Jorge Revert completing the podium result another three laps down.

Image: Ruben Olivares


March 10, 2016

Creation Model sign Jilles Groskamp

Creation Model sign Jilles Groskamp

Creation Model have announced the signing of former IFMAR Electric Touring Car World Champion, Jilles Groskamp to the Infinity team. Jilles was chosen for his incredible driving skills, passion and dedication to the hobby. With his experience and professional attitude he will be an important part of the team while helping to improve current and develope future projects. The former HB/HPI driver had the following to say about the deal:

I’m very happy to announce my career move to Creation Model. This new company has a great passion for R/C and I will be joining a great group of people. First I will be running the Infinity 1/8 at most big races but in the meantime we will also be working hard on future projects. I’m more then excited to start this new venture and I would like to thank Kenji Taira and all his staff for this great opportunity. See you at the track!

Source: Creation Model [creationmodel.net]


March 10, 2016

O.S. to power JJ Wang through to 2018

JJ Wang O.S. powered through to 2018

O.S. Engines have announced the signing of up and coming American-Chinese racer JJ Wang to their factory team. The 18-year old Mugen racer and 2014 IFMAR World Championship finalist has signed a 2-year deal that will see him use the Japanese power plant throughout his national and international 1/8th and 1/10th nitro campaign including this year’s 200mm World Championships in Italy. JJ had this to say about his new deal:

First of all, I would like to sincerely thank Novarossi for all the support they have given to me for so many years.  In deciding how to improve my overall race package for the future, I am very excited and honored to join Team OS Speed for the next two years; Special thanks to Mr. Arata and Mr. Shimazaki for their support and having the confidence in me.

Source: O.S. Engine [os-engines.co.jp]


March 10, 2016

Tasos Paparegas wins at Greek National Cup

Tasos Paparegas wins at Greek National Cup

The Greek National Cup was held at the Zorri RC dirt track. The event was held using a completely new layout, making for equal conditions for all drivers. Tasos Paparegas soon made his intensions clear by winning three of the four qualifiers to take the overall TQ from Papanikolaou and Terzis. The main final then was an easy job again for Paparegas (Xray) thanks to some very fast and consistent driving. Tasis won the final, and with it another national title, a little less than 2 laps ahead of Anapoliotakis (Mugen) who took the second place from Terzis (Mugen) in third.

View the final result here


March 10, 2016

Paolo Morganti wins 2016 Pacific Cup

Paolo Morganti wins 2016 Pacific Cup

The 2016 Pacific Cup was held this past weekend. The fast track offered high speed sweepers, a wide open chicane and a couple of hairpins, making it tricky to find the best setup in order to go fast but not destroy the tyres, specially in the GT class. The schedule was pretty straight forward with practice on Friday, qualifiers on Saturday and finals on Sunday. In the GT class the race was on between Fabrizio Martello and Paolo Morganti, the later having some setup issues during the qualifiers so Paolo had to go through the semifinal which gave him some extra time to work on the adjustments. Both ran 1-2 in the opening stages of the main final until Fabrizio ran into some problems. This gave Paolo the lead and the ability to focus on build an advantage and at the same time save as much tyre as possible. The strategy paid off and after a trouble free one hour final, Paolo was able to take the win from Fabrizio Martello in second and Rino Lino in third.

Source: Serpent [serpent.com]


March 9, 2016

Victor Pelaez successful at Spanish 200mm nationals

Victor Pelaez successful at Spanish 200mm nationals

The opening round of the Spanish Nitro Touring Nationals was held at the Almussafes track this past weekend. The event was the first to be held under the new national rules including a Super Pole event and after the qualifiers Sergi Franch came out fastest from Jonhi Pastor and Nacho Lopez. Victor Pelaez would round out the top 4 with the latter three would run in the Super Pole format to evaluate the starting grid positions behind Sergi, with Victor coming out fastest from Nacho and Jonhi. The main final then saw Victor Pelaez taking the win in the 30 minute encounter following some struggling in the opening stages when the top 4 drivers were in tight battles for the positions. Behind Victor, Jonhi Pastor would grab the runner-up spot from David Belen. Jose Antonio Aldudo and Nacho Lopez rounded out the top 5.

Source: Serpent [serpent.com]


March 9, 2016

Cody King wins at Extreme RPM Series Rd1

Cody King wins at Extreme RPM Series Rd1

The Extreme RPM Series kicked off at Thunder Alley Raceway in Beaumont, California this past weekend and in the 1/8th Buggy Expert class Kyosho’s Cody King would make a clean sweep by TQing and later winning the race some three laps in front of Anthony Westergaard (Tekno). Shaun Kirkman (Tekno) ended the 35 minute A-main another lap down.

Image: Thunder Alley RC Raceway [facebook.com]